At the start of 2026, I made it my new year’s resolution to complete 500 community service hours. Many of my friends and family are baffled that I would do such a thing to myself, especially without having been convicted of a misdemeanor or being subject to the enticements of the Jump Rope for Heart catalog.

Less than three quarters into the year, I attained the goal I set out to achieve, mainly through volunteer work as a hotline operator for CONTACT Rape Crisis Center and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. These commitments usually take twenty to thirty hours a week, total. How I managed to pull this off while maintaining full-time employment and part-time study is probably deserving of its own article, but I couldn’t even tell you how I did this. Google calendar, idk… Interestingly, these commitments bred more commitments, and I was able to parlay each volunteer role into a board position – I am now an at-large member of Kentucky’s Foster Care Review Board and Lexington’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition.